- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA on Tuesday (28) signalled that the rise in oil prices would see it speeding up the transition to alternative sources of energy.
The Asian economy, which is the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, has been urging the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to ensure “responsible pricing” of oil that suits both producers and consumers.
Reuters quoted Indian minister of petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri saying at the launch of OPEC’s World Oil Outlook, “Last week, crude oil prices inched upwards to seven-week highs. The cost of crude oil has considerable impact on the pace of energy transition pathways.”
“It is in the collective global interest that energy transition should be orderly,” he added.
With demand for oil recovering, OPEC and allies such as Russia, a grouping which is called OPEC+, are unwinding record supply cuts that were made in 2020. But there are signs that some OPEC+ producers are unable to pump more because of lack of investments and that has seen the prices going up.
Oil markets went up for a sixth day on Tuesday. Brent crude futures gained 72 cents to reach $80.25 a barrel, after touching their highest level since October 2018 at $80.75.
Puri also said that India, which is a major driver of oil demand growth, imports about 80 per cent of its oil needs and wants robust relations with OPEC.
According to the Indian minister, India met 71 per cent of its oil needs from the OPEC countries in the last fiscal year ending in March 2021.
He said the oil bloc has played a major role in “shaping oil prices and availability” and that India, with a huge energy market, has a vital interest in this and it looks forward to OPEC’s leadership role in ensuring this.
